a world of my own
by potahtopotato
Summary: A collection of ficlets about the Sorting ceremony spanning from Marauders' Era to Next-Gen to whoever else I feel like writing. 1: Lily Luna Potter


Lily is shaking, just the slightest bit. She's been trying to suppress it for hours during the whole train ride, which she spent with Albus, Hugo, Rose, and Scorpius. She's sure that they noticed, but no one pointed out that she spilled her Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans three separate times or that it took her several tries to fasten her robes.

Now she's standing in the Great Hall with all the other first years and waiting as Professor McGonagall brings out the tattered old hat, and her hands are still shaking. Lily clasps them in front of her and tries to think of comforting things, such as Albus telling her earlier today (quietly, so that no one else would hear him) that if she ever had any questions or problems or trouble, she should come to him right away. He might not be James, he explained, but he learned a spell at Scorpius's house to make all of someone's hair fall out, and he's excited to test it out.

"I dunno why I'm so nervous," Hugo says from beside Lily. "It's not even a test or anything. It's not as if you can _not_ get into a house. We'll be alright, won't we?" She nods. He's right, of course, partly because Hugo tends to be right about everything, and partly because she was there for the multiple hours he spent in Flourish and Blotts, trying to find out whether or not a person has ever been entirely rejected by every house. If it has happened, Hugo and Lily were unable to find any records of it, so Hugo declared the operation a failure and asked his mother instead.

"She told me not to worry," he later told Lily. "I'm not worried! I was just curious. Are you worried?"

Lily is, in fact, worried. She's so on edge that she manages not to hear a single word of the song, and by the time she brings her attention back to the present, "Gibson, Ivy" has been sorted into Slytherin and Hugo is giving her a panicked look.

"Not Gryffindor?" he asks, swallowing hard.

"Not Gryffindor," Lily repeats, giving him a little push forward as Professor McGonagall calls his name.

The hat sits on Hugo's head for barely half a minute before sending him to Ravenclaw. Lily claps and sends two thumbs up and what she hopes is an encouraging smile Hugo's way when he looks over at her. She watches anxiously as a boy slides over to make room for Hugo on the bench. Hugo sits, and she breathes for the first time since his name was called and turns back to the sorting.

All too soon, Professor McGonagall calls her name, and though Lily is acutely aware of all the eyes on her, she's more than used to it by now. She holds her head high and balls her hands into fists so that the shaking will be less noticeable. The stool is comfortingly solid, and she holds on to the bottom of it as Professor McGonagall places the hat on her head.

 _Oh_ , a voice inside her mind says, _this should be interesting_.

 _I'd like to go to Slytherin, please_ , Lily thinks as politely as she can.

 _Slytherin?_ The hat sounds surprised. _Why Slytherin?_

There's a brief moment where Lily suddenly doesn't remember, but thankfully she recovers her senses. _I don't want Al to be the only Slytherin in our family, I'm not brave enough for Gryffindor, and I don't like studying as much as Hugo._

 _Hm. That's fair enough, but what about Hufflepuff?_

 _Hufflepuff?_ Lily's never considered Hufflepuff. _I think I'd rather be in Slytherin. If you don't mind._

 _Definitely a Hufflepuff,_ the hat says, and Lily starts panicking because she _has_ to go to Slytherin; she has to be with Albus, because he might act like she's his annoying kid sister, but Lily knows he gets lonely sometimes. There's only so much time he can spend with Scorpius over the summer, and for some reason he refuses to believe Lily when she says that she's going to be a Slytherin too. She wanted to show him, but to do that she first has to get sorted into the right house.

 _I can't be in Hufflepuff!_

 _Look,_ the hat says, _I hate to tell you this, but I've sorted thousands of children over hundreds of years, and putting you in anywhere but Hufflepuff is ridiculous. Now-"_

Out loud, it starts "Huff-", and Lily properly panics.

 _No! I want to go to Slytherin!_

 _Well, unfortunately for you,_ I'm _the Sorting Hat, and I might take your opinion into consideration, but you're the most classic Hufflepuff I've seen in nearly half a century, and you_ will _go to Hufflepuff._

 _I'll_ —Lily casts about for a proper threat— _I'll set you on fire!_

 _What?_

 _I'm threatening you,_ Lily explains. _If you don't put me in Slytherin, I'll_ Incendio _you, my mum taught me how to do it._

Lily thinks she hears the hat laugh. She bristles.

Incendio _me?_ it asks. _Let's just finish this, we're still only on P, and—_

Lily reaches into her pocket (an action which first requires her to release the stool, which she's been clutching so hard that her fingers are turning white) and pulls out her wand. She brings the tip of it to the top of the Sorting Hat.

 _I'll do it!_ she thinks. _I really will._

"Huff—" the hat starts, ignoring completely the wand at its metaphorical throat, and at the same time Lily yells "Incendio!" as loud as she can.

The next moment is a blur: there's a whooshing sound, a sudden heat on top of her head, an awareness of a commotion starting in the Great Hall, and finally empty air as both her wand and the hat are snatched away.

Lily turns around on the stool and comes face to face with Professor McGonagall, whose eyes are as wide as Lily's own. There's a sudden moment of terror where Lily realizes that she just set the _Sorting Hat_ , one of the most important magical objects _ever_ , on fire on her first day of school.

"I—" she says, but there's a lump in her throat and she can't quite swallow and—

"Slytherin!" the hat declares, twisting around in Professor McGonagall's grip to fix Lily with a glare. "Now get this girl away from me."

As Lily walks to the Slytherin table, the applause from all four houses is thunderous. The students of Hogwarts may not be entirely sure what they just witnessed, but at the very least it broke up the monotony of a normal sorting.

Lily focuses on a candle hung on the other side of the hall and tries not to cry. At least, she thinks as she settles next to a grinning Albus and a madly clapping Scorpius, her hands have stopped shaking.


End file.
